AUO lines up new strategy aimed at PV focus

TAIPEI, TAIWAN: LCD panel manufacturer AU Optronics (AUO) is all set to find a focus for its photovoltaic business strategy in its bid to offer solutions for end-market users and also upstream material supply.

The company, according to the top brass, is also developing both the thin-film and polysilicon (poly-Si) segments for its PV business.

AUO president Lai-juh Chen and chairman KY Lee have pointed out that the company has already made key deployments in the upstream and downstream segments of the solar industry.

According to a report, global demand for PV system design and installation has been on the rise even as mid-stream manufacturers of solar cells and PV modules continue to be impacted by oversupply and plummeting of prices.

The company has managed to give it an added focus by setting up a wholly owned subsidiary, christened AUO Energy Taiwan, to provide photovoltaic (PV) solutions and system installation service, the report added.

Meanwhile, the company is also kicking off an initiative to strengthen the utilization at its 8.5G production line, L8A in central Taiwan. This is part of its plans to reach full utilization of 40,000 glass substrates a month by the end of the current year.

It expects that growing demand for LCD TVs would prompt success of the initiative. AUO had significantly increased the yield rate at its 8.5G plant to levels comparable to plants of other generations, it added.